‘Mark Duggan’s death could have been avoided’

The death of Mark Duggan and the riots that followed could have been avoided, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed. One of the newspaper’s investigative reporters, David Rose, has said he has found evidence that failings on the part of the now-defunct Trident gun crime unit led to the shooting of the 29-year-old on August 4, 2011.

They could have instead focused on Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, the man serving time for supplying Duggan with a gun, who the family believe may have been a police informant and was being ‘protected by the police’.

Hutchinson-Foster had previously faced gun offences himself, but the charges against him were dropped last minute at his Old Bailey trial, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Both the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have not explained why, the newspaper said. The CPS says it ‘cannot locate’ the paperwork which set out the reasons for this decision.